Ethereum News Daily TheBitTimes.com

Lazarus members posed as engineers and fooled exchange employees into downloading difficult-to-detect malware. Lazarus Group used a new form of malware in an attempt to compromise a crypto exchange , according to an October 31 report from Elastic Security Labs. Elastic has named the new malware “KANDYKORN” and the loader program that loads it into memory “SUGARLOAD,” as the loader file has a novel “.sld” extension in its name. Elastic did not name the exchange that was targeted. Crypto exchanges have suffered a rash of private-key hacks in 2023, most of which have been traced to the North Korean cybercrime enterprise, Lazarus Group. KANDYKORN infection process. Source: Elastic Security Labs. According to Elastic, the attack began when Lazarus members posed as blockchain engineers and targeted engineers from the unnamed crypto exchange. The attackers made contact on Discord, claiming they had designed a profitable arbitrage bot that could profit from discrepancies between prices ...

Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung says investors have been more discerning when allocating capital to Web3 gaming projects during crypto winter. Investing in Web3 gaming has required a greater level of due diligence through a testing crypto currency bear market, according to Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung. Yung, who is also co-founder of popular Metaverse platform The Sandbox, highlighted more robust check-boxes when considering Web3 gaming investments while speaking at the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona. Related: Animoca still bullish on blockchain games, awaits license for metaverse fund The Animoca Brands CEO said that investment propositions involve finding a mix of passionate teams with specific skill sets who are building product ideas that have a clear market fit: “Now that we're in a sort of crypto winter and an economic downturn, from the investor perspective, we can afford to be quite choosy because obviously, capital is scarce.” Yung added that the stage of d...

CyberConnect co-founder Ryan Li believes that creators who want their content to live forever will ditch Web2 social media platforms for Web3 alternatives. The Web3 industry continues its mission to disrupt the World Wide Web, and social media is one of its primary targets. In the 34th episode of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out , host Elisha Owusu Akyaw interviews Ryan Li, co-founder of CyberConnect, about the concept of decentralized social media.  Li kicks off the episode by explaining the rationale behind creating social media platforms running on blockchain. Li points out that Web3 social media platforms give content creators the confidence that they won’t be abandoned when the platform gets bigger or shifts its focus to ad revenue, unlike traditional platforms. This feature is built on top of a decentralized financial system, and the speculative nature of the space creates a strong case for SocialFi. Li also highlights updates in recent years that have shone a spotlight on decent...

Crypto and blockchain technology are dynamic yet have a steep learning curve. A notable concern is companies’ apparent struggle when hiring individuals with the requisite technical skills. A recent PwC survey noted that almost half (48%) of crypto -centric firms needed help finding qualified personnel to run their businesses.  The issues mentioned above are often attributed to the specialized nature of blockchain programming languages, smart contract development, and other unique technical aspects inherent to this domain.  You might also like: Bit Digital diversifies crypto mining business with major AI expansion For instance, Solidity, a core language for smart contract creation on platforms like Ethereum, presents a hurdle for those unfamiliar with its intricacies.  Developing smart contracts is complex due to their decentralized nature and the need for precise coding to ensure accurate execution.  Additionally, while promoting innova...

Can blockchain technology actually help to improve transparency within charities? In 2021, the Australian branch of the Red Cross received $90 million to aid the victims of the bushfires that plagued various regions of New South Wales and Victoria.  However, the organization soon came under fire for its lack of transparency when it revealed that it would only distribute around one-third of the intended funds on immediate assistance and that it could take up to three years to distribute the total amount. One resident who lost his home to the fires told local media, “They made a lot of promises that they’re going to this, that and other, (but) I’ve received nothing, I have no idea where the money is going.” This one example highlights a common problem among charities: The processes for distributing charitable giving are often obscured by bureaucracy and prone to mismanagement. Without robust accountability mechanisms, charities risk mismanaging or misusing funds and, at worst, committi...

Aptos suffered a five-hour outage, coincidentally in the same week that the network launched this time last year. Layer-1 blockchain Aptos Network has managed to bring its network back to normal operations after a lengthy five -hour outage that saw transactions on its network “ impacted ." According to the Aptoscan network tracker, on-chain transactions on the Move language-based blockchain were halted 11:11pm UTC on Oct. 18 at block 104621314 — down for more than five hours. Aptos seemingly confirmed the outage with a post on X (formerly Twitter), noting: “Your energy for Aptos One was so electric, you cut the lights!” At the time, the team added that “transactions on the network have been impacted” and they were “working diligently” to resolve the issue. Your energy for Aptos One was so electric, you cut the lights! What that means at the moment is that transactions on the network have been impacted. We are working diligently to resolve the issue and will keep you updated ...

Michael Lewis's book 'Going Infinite' reveals that CZ and SBF had different goals when the first collaborative business opportunity arose in 2019. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reportedly declined to pay $40 million to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried for a futures crypto exchange in March 2019, according to an excerpt from Michael Lewis’ book “Going Infinite.” According to the book, SBF proposed a futures exchange with “zero risk” for the exchange in case of bad trades with high leverage. Traditionally, a futures exchange allows traders to leverage funds against a small collateral, and the exchange often asks traders to increase collateral in case the trade starts to go bad. However, in crypto, the price swings could be fast and significant which could leave exchanges with bad debts due to lack of collateral. However, FTX wanted to create a futures exchange that would monitor the trader’s activity and, as soon as the trade surmounted the collateral, would liquidate the us...

Paradigm pointed out that the SEC is attempting to use the concerning accusations in its complaint as a means to alter the law, all without adhering to the established rulemaking process. Paradigm, a crypto venture capital firm, has criticized the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for bypassing the standard rulemaking procedures in their current legal action against the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In a statement released on Friday, Sept. 29, Paradigm pointed out that the SEC is attempting to use the concerning accusations in its complaint as a means to alter the law, all without adhering to the established rulemaking process. Paradigm firmly believes that the SEC is exceeding its regulatory boundaries, and we strongly oppose this tactic, they further stated. Back in June, the SEC initiated a legal action against Binance, accusing them of multiple violations of securities laws, such as operating without the necessary registration as an exchange, broker-dealer...

EOS Network Foundation has partnered with Upland and Aerial. The collaboration sees EOS become the first blockchain network to be “climate positive”. EOS uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. EOS Network has reached a landmark milestone among block chain network s as its vision of a green block chain crystalised with the latest collaboration between the EOS Network Foundation (ENF) and Upland, a Web3 platform for the metaverse. EOS is “climate positive” Although EOS was already a carbon neutral chain, ENF’s collaboration with Upland and sustainability platform Aerial to push the EOS Network from being a carbon-neutral blockchain to one that’s now “climate positive.” The move comes amid growing adoption of green energy even across proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin, around which there has been much debate on how to achieve more in terms of environmental sustainability. For EOS, a proof-of-stak...

Keyrock, a market maker based in Belgium, announced that it received approval from the Swiss Financial Services Standards Association (VQF). VQF is the organization responsible for enforcing anti-money laundering laws in Switzerland. Keyrock has met Switzerland’s local laws’ minimum compliance requirements. Keyrock expands its OTC services with more fiat on/off-ramp solutions. Through our Swiss VQF membership, we're now offering GBP, AUD, and 10+ other currencies alongside the standard USD and EURO. Read more about these significant milestones https://t.co/4v5SRzpftY — Keyrock 🪨 (@KeyrockTrading) September 26, 2023 Keyrock has received approval to function as a financial intermediary in Switzerland and provide its services to crypto businesses and investors based in Switzerland.  You might also like: Switzerland’s Banque SYZ unveils crypto fund with CMCC Global  This approval is similar to other crypto companies, including Bitcoin Suisse ...

Launched in May, the Gemini Gurgaon Hub has since added over 70 staff. Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini is allocating 2 billion rupees ($24 million) for its expansion in India. According to the Sept. 26 announcement, the funds will be used to grow Gemini's development center in Gurgaon. The exchange said:  "Our teams based in Gurgaon will also be responsible for core platform fundamentals in the areas of compliance, data pipelines and warehousing, security, and payments, complementing our 500+ strong global workforce." Since its initial launch in May, the Gemini Gurgaon Development Center has expanded to over 70 staff, with active hiring for software engineers, technical product managers, talent acquisition, finance, support, and compliance. In supporting the expansion , Gemini cited the Indian government's "robust support framework that allows startups to thrive." The site also acts as a developer for the exchange's new Features in nonfungible tokens ...

Coinbase holds $25 billion worth of Bitcoin, amounting to nearly 5% of the cryptocurrency’s total supply, according to Arkham Intel. Blockchain intelligence platform Arkham Intel, on Sept. 22, revealed that U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase currently possesses close to 1 million Bitcoins (BTC) in its wallets.  Arkham has now identified $25B of Coinbase Bitcoin reserves (~1M BTC) on chain. This makes Coinbase the largest Bitcoin entity in the world on Arkham, with almost 5% of all BTC in existence – about as much as Satoshi Nakamoto. pic.twitter.com/7sDOczS7WT — Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) September 22, 2023 The Bitcoin holding is valued at over $25 billion per the current market rates. It also constitutes almost 5% of all Bitcoin in circulation, an amount that would put Coinbase on par with the alleged holdings of Bitcoin’s elusive founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. As asserted by Arkham, Coinbase’s Bitcoin portfolio consists of a grand total of 947,755 B...

The Optimism Network has revealed that it will sell 116 million OP tokens in a series of planned sales. Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Optimism (OP) has disclosed plans to sell 116 million OP token s to seven private buyers for treasury management purposes At current prices, the sale will see $159 million worth of OP tokens change hands. Starting today, there will be several transactions totaling approximately 116M OP token s. We’re sharing as a heads up to our community that these are planned transactions. — Optimism (_) (@optimismFND) September 20, 2023 While some observers feared the sale would bring about depressed prices from Optimism “dumping” its tokens on the market, it seems unlikely that the sale of the tokens will have any material impact on the price of OP, due to the sale being private. Additionally, the tokens are being sourced from the unallocated portion of the OP token treasury — meaning that they are not part of the circulating supply. Optimism (OP) token...

Pierre Rochard said that Bitcoin is the best digital money network and everything else is worse. Cointelegraph's Joseph Hall interviewed Bitcoin (BTC) advocates Pierre Rochard and Morgen Rochard, the hosts of the Bitcoin for Advisors podcast at the Surfin’ Bitcoin 2022 Event held in France. The group talked about how France can attract more miners, where Bitcoin comes in in terms of financial planning and the difference between Bitcoin and other cryptos.  According to Pierre Rochard, who also works at the mining firm Riot Blockchain, there are two ways for France to attract large-scale Bitcoin miners. The first is to provide assurances in terms of policies on Bitcoin mining. In addition to this, the country should provide a power grid that is favorable for miners. He explained:  “We're seeing Japan is now opening up or changing policies on nuclear power, and I think that France should reinvest in its nuclear power and really they should be able to attract Bitcoin miners mor...

The SEC argues that as ETH validators are concentrated more densely in the United States, ETH transactions are seen as taking place in the country. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has made an unprecedented claim that Ethereum transactions take place in the United States as ETH nodes are “clustered more densely” in the United States than any other country.  The SEC argument is found within a Sept. 19 lawsuit against crypto researcher and YouTuber Ian Balina, which alleged, among many other complaints, that Balina conducted an unregistered offering of Sparkster (SPRK) tokens when he formed an investing pool on Telegram in 2018. The SEC claims that at the time that U.S.-based investors participated in Balina’s investing pool, the ETH contributions were validated by a network of nodes on the Ethereum blockchain, “which are clustered more densely in the United States than in any other country.” The SEC argued that as a result, “those transactions took place in the United States.”...

Worldcoin project has remained controversial right from its announcement and currently facing regulatory trouble in multiple jurisdictions that it has launched. The iris scanning crypto project Worldcoin has now made it possible for even unverified customers to reserve their Worldcoin tokens (WLD). In an announcement on Aug. 11, the Worldcoi n project noted that the World app now offers a reservation s feature to make it easier for everyone to reserve their WLD tokens before verifying their World ID. The reservation will be valid for 12 months and users can redeem their reserved world tokens by visiting the iris scanning device called Orb. World App with reservation feature. Source: Worldcoin The Worldcoin project consists of three key elements: the Worldcoin ID, the Worldcoin App and the Worldcoin token (WLD). Users who are willing to scan their iris to create a biometric data-based ID system are rewarded with native WLD tokens. The iris scanning device is called Orb. The global d...

Coinbase’s Base network began onboarding end users through a bridge UI, and the team announced Aug. 9 as the platform's official launch date. Coinbase’s Base network has released a user interface (UI) for its official bridge, allowing end users to onboard for the first time without relying on developer tools, according to an Aug. 3 announcement. The team has set Aug. 9 as Base’s “official” release date. The team will award over 100 Ether (ETH), worth approximately $184,000, in grants to developers and content creators as part of a month-long launch event called the “Onchain Summer.” Base is now open for bridging Base opens for everything on August 9 We’re helping throw an onchain festival to celebrate ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴏɴᴄʜᴀɪɴ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ https://t.co/p8KTcnkbbx — Base ️ (@BuildOnBase) August 3, 2023 The Base mainnet launch ed for builders on July 13, but it lacked a functioning UI for its bridge from Ethereum. At the time, the only way to use the network was to employ command-line develop...

Cointelegraph Accelerator participants will get a headstart with Consensys’ Web3 solutions, including MetaMask, Infura and Linea zkEVM. The transition from Web2 to Web3 is reshaping the technology landscape and attracting the attention of developers. Despite the challenges faced during the current crypto winter, the Web3 ecosystem continued to onboard new developers, with many thousands of developers making the jump from Web2 to Web3. However, developers working with Web3 and blockchain technology can face numerous issues if they lack the proper knowledge, infrastructure and tools. Web3 teams need assistance developing in a complex environment without introducing vulnerabilities into their smart contracts that could lead to security breaches, such as hacks and exploits. The number of active Web3 developers is rising. Source: Electric Capital. To avoid these potential setbacks, Web3 startups are seeking support from established industry players. Blockchain and web3 software company Con...

Big Four accounting firm Deloitte said the partnership could help authorities identify and take down bad actors hiding "behind the keyboard." Professional services giant Deloitte is set to boost its clients’ blockchain-tracking capabilities following a strategic alliance with crypto analytics firm Chainalysis. Announced during a Chainalysis conference in Washington DC on July 25, the tie-up will see Chainalysis’ blockchain datasets, analytics software and training programs assist Deloitte’s clients with their crypto forensic, investigative and compliance needs. A Chainalysis spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the alliance had been in the works for years, with the aim of helping more organizations to adopt blockchain technology. Our alliance with @Deloitte, announced today at #TraceDC, will provide public and private organizations with bespoke solutions and specialized services related to risk, compliance, and investigations. Read more:https://t.co/NqbPPA6HYb pic.twitter...

Sky Mavis executive Kathleen Osgood said that the catalyst for the revival of blockchain gaming would be an experience that understands the motivations driving users into Web3. Sky Mavis, the company behind the popular play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain game Axie Infinity, has announced a partnership with the Ethereum-based nonfungible token (NFT) collection CyberKongz to create a more comprehensive gaming ecosystem for the Ronin blockchain. In the announcement, the company also teased the creation of a new game, though it only provided scant details about the upcoming game development. However, Kathleen Osgood, the head of business development at Sky Mavis, told Cointelegraph in a statement that the new game will be interoperable by integrating with existing Axie Infinity experiences. Apart from a new game, the announcement also highlighted that CyberKongz’s Play & Kollect game — a Polygon-based blockchain game that integrates soulbound tokens and allows players to collect NFTs from ...